Carol Bush says she was misquoted; publisher disagrees

State Rep. Carol Bush

In a December interview with TheTulsaVoice.com, freshman State Rep. Carol Bush (R-Tulsa) made a series of comments on her policy views that were... unorthodox for a Republican, to say the least. The HD70 representative took liberal positions on taxes three times, said ObamaCare was the "wrong execution of the right idea", and leaned left on social issues like abortion, marriage, and assisted suicide. She also said she was recruited to run for office by now ex-representative Jeannie McDaniel (D-Tulsa), who was one of the most liberal Oklahoma  legislators in recent memory.

After her statements caught attention on social media and my post here, Rep. Bush sent an apology to members of the House Republican caucus, obtained by SoonerPolitics.org:

Bush pleads "misquoted" and "taken out of context" for her liberal positions.

Joshua Kline, editor of TheTulsaVoice.com, responded to Bush's claim with this statement:

"We stand by Barry Friedman's story, which presented Rep. Bush in her own words. Bush is welcome to contact us directly if she seriously believes she was misquoted or "taken out of context." We'd be happy to go over the audio with her and sort this whole thing out."

The tone of the original article was that of a conversation between old pals; in fact, the author started off with a disclaimer noting that he and Bush have been friends for 35 years. I think the truth of the matter isn't "misquoted" or "taken out of context", but rather that, at ease in a friendly environment, Bush was simply caught voicing her real thoughts on these policy issues.

At least it gives conservatives a heads-up about another legislator to keep a watchful eye on.